Editing Brain (section)

== Development ==
{{Main|Neural development}}
[[File:6 week embryo brain.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=Very simple drawing of the front end of a human embryo, showing each vesicle of the developing brain in a different color.|Brain of a human embryo in the sixth week of development]]

The brain develops in an intricately orchestrated sequence of stages.<ref name="Purves 1985">{{Cite book |last1=Purves |first1=Dale. |last2=Lichtman |first2=Jeff W. |title=Principles of neural development |date=1985 |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunderland, Mass. |isbn=978-0-87893-744-8 |oclc=10798963 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_m8p7 }}</ref><!--Ch. 1--> It changes in shape from a simple swelling at the front of the nerve cord in the earliest embryonic stages, to a complex array of areas and connections. Neurons are created in special zones that contain [[stem cell]]s, and then migrate through the tissue to reach their ultimate locations. Once neurons have positioned themselves, their axons sprout and navigate through the brain, branching and extending as they go, until the tips reach their targets and form synaptic connections. In a number of parts of the nervous system, neurons and synapses are produced in excessive numbers during the early stages, and then the unneeded ones are pruned away.<ref name="Purves 1985"/><!--Ch. 4-->

For vertebrates, the early stages of neural development are similar across all species.<ref name="Purves 1985"/><!--Ch. 1--> As the embryo transforms from a round blob of cells into a wormlike structure, a narrow strip of [[ectoderm]] running along the midline of the back is [[cellular differentiation|induced]] to become the [[neural plate]], the precursor of the nervous system. The neural plate folds inward to form the [[neural groove]], and then the lips that line the groove merge to enclose the [[neural tube]], a hollow cord of cells with a fluid-filled ventricle at the center. At the front end, the ventricles and cord swell to form three vesicles that are the precursors of the [[forebrain|prosencephalon]] (forebrain), [[midbrain|mesencephalon]] (midbrain), and [[hindbrain|rhombencephalon]] (hindbrain). At the next stage, the forebrain splits into two vesicles called the [[cerebrum|telencephalon]] (which will contain the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and related structures) and the [[diencephalon]] (which will contain the thalamus and hypothalamus). At about the same time, the hindbrain splits into the [[metencephalon]] (which will contain the cerebellum and pons) and the [[myelencephalon]] (which will contain the [[medulla oblongata]]). Each of these areas contains proliferative zones where neurons and glial cells are generated; the resulting cells then migrate, sometimes for long distances, to their final positions.<ref name="Purves 1985"/><!--Ch. 1-->

Once a neuron is in place, it extends dendrites and an axon into the area around it. Axons, because they commonly extend a great distance from the cell body and need to reach specific targets, grow in a particularly complex way. The tip of a growing axon consists of a blob of protoplasm called a [[growth cone]], studded with chemical receptors. These receptors sense the local environment, causing the growth cone to be attracted or repelled by various cellular elements, and thus to be pulled in a particular direction at each point along its path. The result of this pathfinding process is that the growth cone navigates through the brain until it reaches its destination area, where other chemical cues cause it to begin generating synapses. Considering the entire brain, thousands of [[gene]]s create products that influence axonal pathfinding.<ref name="Purves 1985"/><!--Ch. 5 and 7-->

The synaptic network that finally emerges is only partly determined by genes, though. In many parts of the brain, axons initially "overgrow", and then are "pruned" by mechanisms that depend on neural activity.<ref name="Purves 1985"/><!--Ch. 12--> In the projection from the eye to the midbrain, for example, the structure in the adult contains a very precise mapping, connecting each point on the surface of the [[retina]] to a corresponding point in a midbrain layer. In the first stages of development, each axon from the retina is guided to the right general vicinity in the midbrain by chemical cues, but then branches very profusely and makes initial contact with a wide swath of midbrain neurons. The retina, before birth, contains special mechanisms that cause it to generate waves of activity that originate spontaneously at a random point and then propagate slowly across the retinal layer. These waves are useful because they cause neighboring neurons to be active at the same time; that is, they produce a neural activity pattern that contains information about the spatial arrangement of the neurons. This information is exploited in the midbrain by a mechanism that causes synapses to weaken, and eventually vanish, if activity in an axon is not followed by activity of the target cell. The result of this sophisticated process is a gradual tuning and tightening of the map, leaving it finally in its precise adult form.<ref name="Wong">{{cite journal|last=Wong|first=RO|year=1999|title=Retinal waves and visual system development |journal=Annual Review of Neuroscience|location=St. Louis, MO|volume=22|pages=29–47|doi=10.1146/annurev.neuro.22.1.29|pmid=10202531}}</ref>

Similar things happen in other brain areas: an initial synaptic matrix is generated as a result of genetically determined chemical guidance, but then gradually refined by activity-dependent mechanisms, partly driven by internal dynamics, partly by external sensory inputs. In some cases, as with the retina-midbrain system, activity patterns depend on mechanisms that operate only in the developing brain, and apparently exist solely to guide development.<ref name=Wong />

In humans and many other mammals, new neurons are created mainly before birth, and the infant brain contains substantially more neurons than the adult brain.<ref name="Purves 1985"/><!--Ch. 6--> There are, however, a few areas where new neurons continue to be generated throughout life. The two areas for which adult [[neurogenesis]] is well established are the olfactory bulb, which is involved in the sense of smell, and the [[dentate gyrus]] of the hippocampus, where there is evidence that the new neurons play a role in storing newly acquired memories. With these exceptions, however, the set of neurons that is present in early childhood is the set that is present for life. Glial cells are different: as with most types of cells in the body, they are generated throughout the lifespan.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rakic|first=Pasko|year=2002|title=Adult neurogenesis in mammals: an identity crisis |journal=Journal of Neuroscience|volume=22|issue=3|pages=614–618|doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.22-03-00614.2002|pmc=6758501|pmid=11826088}}</ref>

There has long been debate about whether the qualities of [[mind]], personality, and intelligence can be attributed to [[Nature versus nurture|heredity or to upbringing]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ridley|first=Matt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TkUHQAACAAJ|title=Nature via Nurture: Genes, Experience, and What Makes Us Human|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2004|isbn=978-0-06-000678-5 |pages=1–6}}</ref> Although many details remain to be settled, neuroscience shows that both factors are important. Genes determine both the general form of the brain and how it reacts to experience, but experience is required to refine the matrix of synaptic connections, resulting in greatly increased complexity. The presence or absence of experience is critical at key periods of development.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wiesel |first=T |year=1982 |title=Postnatal development of the visual cortex and the influence of environment |journal=Nature |volume=299 |pages=583–591 |pmid=6811951 |url=http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1981/wiesel-lecture.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1981/wiesel-lecture.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |doi=10.1038/299583a0 |issue=5884 |bibcode=1982Natur.299..583W|citeseerx=10.1.1.547.7497 |s2cid=38776857 }}</ref> Additionally, the quantity and quality of experience are important. For example, animals raised in [[Environmental enrichment (neural)|enriched environments]] demonstrate thick cerebral cortices, indicating a high density of synaptic connections, compared to animals with restricted levels of stimulation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van Praag |first1=H |year=2000 |title=Neural consequences of environmental enrichment |journal=Nature Reviews Neuroscience |volume=1 |pages=191–198 |pmid=11257907 |last2=Kempermann |first2=G |last3=Gage |first3=FH |doi=10.1038/35044558 |issue=3|s2cid=9750498 }}</ref>